- Author: Jodi Azulai
UC ANR Administrative Orientation for new employees May 23, 2018
ANR will hold another administrative orientation in the spring. The May 23, 2018, orientation is intended for new staff and academics. For more information, academics may contact Tina Jordan at tljordan@ucanr.edu and staff may contact Jodi Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.
Excel Tips Weekly
Tune in every Tuesday for Excel Tips Weekly. Learn Excel productivity boosting tricks, need-to-know functions, hidden features and advanced content like PivotTable use for analysis. Each lesson is self-contained and brief and certain to give you new insights.
Have a better work-life balance
A common career-related New Year's resolution is to have a better work-life balance. So many of us work so hard that it prevents us from doing what we'd like to do in our personal lives.
There are a few ways to address it. One is to say no more often – do fewer things, better. Another is to simply make an agreement with yourself, such as no more emailing after 6 p.m. or no more opening the work laptop on Saturdays. It can also come down to having better time-management skills.
Remember, time off isn't just important for your personal life – unplugging makes you more effective at your career, too.
Recommended Courses: Balancing Work and Life, Avoiding Burnout, Arianna Huffington's Thrive 02: Learning How to Unplug and Recharge, Learning to Say No
Be more productive
Being more productive means a lot of things to a lot of people. For a salesperson, it might mean closing more deals. For someone in manufacturing, it might mean finding ways to produce more, while using less energy. It can also mean having better time management skills and making the most of your eight hours each day.
One thing to remember – there are many tools out there that can make your life easier. And learning how to use the tools you already use each day – say, Excel – to their maximum ability can make you far more effective. Investing some time mastering these tools in the beginning of the year might pay huge dividends in the long run.
Recommended courses: Time Management Fundamentals, Excel Tips Weekly, Monday Productivity Pointers, Getting Things Done
When you “Zoom” in, are you seeing the tops of people's heads? Or just their shirt buttons? Perhaps you can hear meeting participants typing or blowing their noses. Maybe you can see a pile of unfolded laundry behind them. If you're ready to make a good impression AND help participate in successful Zoom sessions, you may want to read tips on the Zoom blog article: Video Conferencing Etiquette.
NEW ON UC LEARNING CENTER: UC Managing Implicit Bias Series
These courses can be completed individually, or together as a series to earn the UC Managing Implicit Bias Certificate. As a UC people manager, being aware of implicit bias and how it impacts the way we work and interact with others is especially important. It is recommended that you complete these courses as a complement to your People Management Series Certificate.
The series contains the following six self-paced, online interactive courses. Each course is 15 to 20 minutes in length and you may elect to complete individual courses, or the complete series. Those who complete all six courses will receive the UC Managing Implicit Bias Certificate and a new 2018 People Management Series and Certificate.
The courses are as follows:
- What is Implicit Bias?
- The Impact of Implicit Bias
- Managing the Influence of Implicit Bias: Awareness
- Common Forms of Bias
- Managing the Impact of Implicit Bias: Mindfulness and Conscious De-biasing
- Managing Implicit Bias in the Hiring Process
You can access the courses in the UC Learning Center. For more information, please see the UC People Management Series and Certificate.
UC ANR launches 'My UC Career' online career development tool
My UC Career is a new online, self-directed development portal available to all UC employees seeking to advance their career. Career development continues to be a focus area for our people and we are excited to provide a resource that supports employees in growing their UC career. A UC email address is all that's needed to register for an account.
The systemwide portal provides access to job openings at all UC locations via the Systemwide Job Board, as well as resources and tools to create and refine resumes, write cover letters, identify strengths, practice interviewing and find professional networking opportunities.
The portal consists of six easy-to-use modules:
- Begin Career Discovery: Use personal assessments to help identify values, personality, skills and talents.
- Job Search: Leveraging the existing Systemwide Job Board, in one search, view all UC opportunities by job type, location, or career level. Create multiple alerts for new postings that are most interesting
- Resume: Build a new resume or revise an existing resume using the step-by-step online resume workshop that uses answers to automatically build an accomplishment-based resume tailored to the identified career path. View resume building guides and resume samples by position or type.
- Tell Your Story: Create a pitch statement, cover letter, and references to tell what the employee has to offer and how they can help the organization succeed. Use the step-by-step online workshop to automatically build each document. View samples of each type of document.
- Network and Research: Optimize social media presence and use research tools to help leverage employee networks that uncover additional career opportunities.
- Pre- and Post-interview: Practice interview skills by recording video interviews using pre-recorded portal interviewers that ask the employee questions review interview type guides, create a post-interview thank you note, and review the offer negotiation guide and decision-making tools.
Other career development resources are available via the following websites:
Systemwide Integrated Talent Management - Professional Development
Lynda.com (anyone with a “ucanr.edu” email address may register through the ANR Portal.
Email Jodi Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu with questions.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Jim Farrar, director of UC Integrated Pest Management Program, succeeds Cheryl Wilen as leader for Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases (EIPD).
Neil McRoberts, associate professor of plant pathology at UC Davis, and Deanne Meyer, UCCE specialist in animal science at UC Davis, succeed David Doll as co-leaders for Sustainable Food Systems (SFS).
Keith Nathaniel continues to lead the Healthy Families and Communities initiative and Doug Parker continues to lead the Water Quality, Quantity and Security initiative.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Applications are being sought for the Western Extension Directors Association (WEDA) Awards of Excellence. This award recognizes Cooperative Extension outreach education programming that has achieved outstanding accomplishments, results and impacts in addressing contemporary issues in one or more of the 13 states and four territories in the western region. It is anticipated that recipients of the award will include mature programs with documented impacts.
The WEDA Award of Excellence may be given to a total of three programs that represent the work of an individual or multidisciplinary team within a single or multistate/territory setting. If warranted, at least one of the three awards will be given to a multistate/territory program.
Applications may be submitted to WEDA only by extension directors. In California, Vice President Glenda Humiston will submit the applications.
Anyone in UC ANR may recommend potential awardees by completing and submitting an application package. Self-nominations are appropriate. All UC ANR applications must be submitted to WEDA by Humiston to be accepted for consideration.
Humiston may submit up to two program submissions per year. Therefore, an internal application process will be used. All applications for the internal competition must be submitted to Mark Bell, vice provost of strategic initiatives and statewide programs, at mozbell@ucanr.edu on or before Feb. 20, 2018, using a specific format.
Previous WEDA Award of Excellence winning programs cannot be resubmitted. Programs nominated for WEDA Awards of Excellence but not selected can be resubmitted for future consideration, including those recognized as Honorable Mention.
Please see the guidelines for preparing an application package at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/277147.pdf. For more information, contact Bell directly at (530) 750-1288 or mozbell@ucanr.edu.
“Given the strength of UC ANR programs throughout the state, I suspect California will be very competitive again this year,” said Wendy Powers, associate vice president. “This is a great opportunity to have your efforts recognized!”
- Author: Matt Baur
On Feb. 6, Human Resources and Staff Assembly will host an online town hall with Vice President Glenda Humiston to discuss the results of the Staff Engagement Survey. The town hall will focus on three main areas raised in the survey: change management, performance management and wellness.
There has been a lot of activity around the results of the recently completed survey, including ANR report articles, blog posts and webinars. The staff engagement survey results and a recording of the Dec. 13, 2017, ANR Engagement Survey orientation webinar are available at http://staffassembly.ucanr.edu under the CUCSA tab.
The town hall meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Feb. 6 via Zoom. Details for joining via Zoom are below.
When: Feb 6, 2018, 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Staff Engagement Survey Town Hall Meeting
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/244588652
Or iPhone one-tap:
US: +16465588656,,244588652# or +16699006833,,244588652#
Or Telephone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 646 558 8656 or +1 669 900 6833
Webinar ID: 244 588 652
International numbers available: https://ucanr.zoom.us/zoomconference?m=Gh-henOyrhusK-VoaExAWjbxDueqU9Wc
The UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center (SFREC) is soliciting proposals to support new and continuing research on rangeland and oak woodland ecology and management, beef cattle health, production and management, as well as related agricultural and natural resource themes important to California.
Academics from UC and non-UC institutions are eligible to apply. SFREC can contribute labor to support development of experimental infrastructure, experimental manipulations, data collection, animal handling and other labor activities necessary to conduct field research.
Proposals approved for the upcoming program year, July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019, are eligible to receive center contributions toward staff labor.
Proposals are due by March 31, 2018.
Prior to the deadline, interested candidates are encouraged to contact center director Jeremy James (jjjames@ucanr.edu) to discuss project needs and logistics.
Proposals need to be submitted through the REC Manage System via the SFREC website at http://sfrec.ucanr.edu/Research/proposal/.
Basic resources and facilities to support research include 5,000 acres of northern Sierra foothill oak woodland–annual grass rangeland as well as irrigated pastures, riparian areas and access to the Yuba River. A herd of approximately 160 cows and calves and up to 300 head of steers and heifers are available to support animal production, animal health and grazing research. SFREC maintains a wet/dry lab for sample processing, a 16-bed dormitory and large and small conference room.
For further information regarding research opportunities, contact Jeremy James, SFREC director at (530) 639-8803 or jjjames@ucanr.edu, or visit http://sfrec.ucanr.edu.